Belfast To Dublin By Train
I took the 08:00 train between Belfast and Dublin.
All went fairly well and the train arrived into Dublin Connolly station on time.
But information about travel to my hotel near St. Stephen’s Green was non-existent.
So I walked and got lost several times. Where were the maps?
At least in a couple of weeks, the journey will be possible using the trams with a change between the Red and Green Lines.
A Circular Walk In Derry
In Derry, I took the following circular walking route.
- I crossed the double-deck bridge Craigavon Bridge, that is South of the station.
- I walked along the Western bank of the River Foyle, stopping at the SFoyleside hopping Centre to pick up a sandwich.
- I crossed the Peace Bridge.
- I walked back to the station on the Eastern bank of the River Foyle.
If it had been a bit warmer, I would have probably spent more time on an explore.
But after taking these pictures, a warm train beckoned.
I shall return in the summer sun!
A Train Trip From Belfast To Derry
Note that I use Derry in the title of this post. This is nothing to do with politics, but just practicality, as it is shorter.
I don’t like towns and cities with dual names, as it makes things difficult for visitors. I wrote about it in Bilingual Signs.
I took these pictures on the way.
The trip along the Belfast to Derry Line is a good one and the train was comfortable.
The line is being improved, with plans including.
- An improved station at Derry.
- Faster line speeds.
- Removal of single track sections of the line.
- A possible station at Eglinton Airport.
In my view, the route needs an increased train frequency of perhaps two trains per hour.
Just looking at the population of Derry City as a few thousand over a hundred thousand, it would appear to need at least this frequency.
A Train Trip From Belfast To Bangor
I took the train to Bangor and took these pictures.
Note the excellent breakfast at The Heatherlea Cafe in Bangor.
Northern Ireland Railways seem to be improving the service along the Belfast to Bangor Line.
In England, an equivalent line would be Merseyrail’s service between Liverpool and Southport.
- Both lines are important commuter and leisure routes.
- Both serve important tourist destinations.
- Both run along the water.
- Both have a big city at one end and a properous town at the other.
The big difference is that Merseyrail’s line has a regular four trains per hour service and the Irish line doesn’t.
If ever a line was calling out for this level of service it is Belfast to Bangor.
Belfast – A City Of Water And Bridges
I took these pictures as I walked from my hotel in the Titantic Quarter to Belfast City Centre to get some supper.
It wasn’t a difficult walk, although it was rather cold.
I ended up having a very enjoyable gluten-free supper in Made in Belfast, which is close to the City Hall.
Arrival In Belfast
These pictures sum up my arrival in Belfast at George Best Belfast City Airport.
After landing I walked to Sydenham station, from where I took one stop on a train to Titantic Quarter station from where I took a fifteen minute walk to my hotel.
It is not the best walk from the Airport to the rail station and there is a courtesy shuttle bus. Judging by the very few people on the walking route, I suspect most passengers through the Airport, use car or taxi.
One thing that is very noticeable from these pictures is that the two giant cranes; Samson and Goliath, from the Harland and Wolff site are constantly visible.
Details Of London Overground Night Services Released
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in Global Rail News.
This is said.
Overground trains will run 24 hours a day on Fridays and Saturdays between New Cross Gate and Dalston Junction. There are plans to extend the service to Highbury & Islington next year.
Although, I live near Dalston Junction station, I doubt I’ll use the service much. Unless of course, I get a girl-friend in New Cross.
London Overground have done their sums, but I suspect the Night Orange could generate more passengers than predicted.
The East London Line Is Step-Free
All of the stations in the route of the Night Orange are step-free, which can’t be said of the Underground.
Will this have an effect on ridership?
I remember C and myself living in London with three young children. Reliable baby-sitters were difficult, we didn’t have a car and getting around late at night could be difficult.
A step-free line on Friday and Saturday night would have been most welcome.
Transport for London are spending a lot of money on step-free access, so it must be needed.
New Cross Gate, Canada Water, Whitechapel, Dalston Junction and Highbury & Islington Stations Are Good Interchanges
All these stations have several night buses and some have connections with other Night Tube lines.
A lot of difficult journeys will have become simpler.
Crossrail
There is speculation that some parts of Crossrail will operate a night service.
This would have a very useful interchange at Whitechapel.
Other Transport for London Services
The Wikipedia entry for the Night Tube, says this about other Transport for London services.
The Bakerloo, Waterloo & City and sub-surface lines have yet to be upgraded and re-signalled, but it is expected that when these works are completed on these lines, they will also have 24-hour services. Other services such as London Overground and Docklands Light Railway will have overnight services in the near future to connect with Night Tube services. On the sub-surface lines, night tube services are planned to be introduced on the Metropolitan between Aldgate and Harrow-on-the-Hill, District line between Barking and Wimbledon, and on the Hammersmith & City line between Hammersmith & Tower Hill.
One of these predictions has already happened, in that I’m writing about the East London Line of the London Overground.
Surely connecting to the Docklands Light Railway at Shadwell and the sub-surface lines at Whitechapel will generte a lot of traffic.
Surely, running a Night DLR would be one of the easiest to implement.
The City Of London And Canary Wharf
Increasingly, and especially post-Brexit, the jobs in the Financial Sector will become more-and-more-24/7.
Predicting, how this will affect passenger traffic on the Night Tube in general and the East London Line in particular will be extremely difficult.
But the increasing availability of the Night Tube in the financil districts must encourage some jobs like software testing to use the night time creatively.
So the only thing I’ll say about TfL’s forecast for traffic on the Night Tube at Shoreditch High Street station, is that it will be very wide of the mark.
What Next For The Night Orange?
I couldn’t finish these thoughts without speculating, which of the other London Overground lines will be running a night service in the next few years.
It must be mathematically correct to say that as increasing numbers of stations across London have services on Friday and Saturday nights, that a higher percentage of late night journeys across the capital will be possible by public transport. So we could see an increase in passengers, every time new lines and stations are added.
Currently, there is one big gap in the Night Tube and that is that the Bank Branch of the Northern Line has no service. This is due to the ongoing work at Bank station to reconstruct the branch. When this line is inevitably added in a few years time, it will be interesting to see how traffic on the Night Tube changes.
So which of the various Overground lines will get a Night service?
East London Line
The Night Orange on the East London Line, that starts in a few weeks only serves a short part of the line.
Will the service be extended?
I suspect that after the proposed service has bedded in, an assessment will be made, as to whether the service should be extended.
Gospel Oak To Barking Line
It is my view that this will be the surprise line to get a Night Orange service.
- It curves in a convenient arc across North and East London.
- The line is only shared with freight services.
- Barking station will probably be getting Night Tube services in the next few years on the District or Hammersmith and City Lines.
- It has reasonable connections to other Night Tube services.
But as it has just been electrified and relaid, and was re-signalled a few years ago, I suspect that the work has been done, so that a Night Orange service is not impossible.
Liverpool Street Services
The three Overground services out of Liverpool Street to Cheshunt, Chingford and Enfield Town have the following characteristics.
- All the stations they serve are managed by Transport for London.
- The lines are pretty much self-contained.
- Liverpool Street could have several Night Tube services and Crossrail in a few years.
- Will there be large late night events at White Hart Lane?
- The platforms at Liverpool Street used by the services are a separate group at one side of the station.
Incidentally, I went through Liverpool Street station at one in the morning recently and it was heaving.
I would put a high chance on this group of lines having a Night Orange service. Although services may not go the full length of the lines.
Romford To Upminster Line
The Romford to Upminster Line will probably only run a Night Orange service, if Crossrail serves Romford station and the District Line serves Upminster station with Night Tube services.
I think though it is unlikely to be run. Although, it is Essex!
South London Line
I suspect this will be under review and based on the success or failure of the Night Orange on the East London Line, decisions will be taken.
Watford DC Line
This line is closely linked with the Bakerloo Line and I would suspect a Night Orange on this line would be carefully planned with a similar saervice on the Bakerloo Line.
West London Line
If the Night Orange works in the East, why not run it in the West between Clapham Junction and Willesden Junction. Especially, when Old Oak Common station opens for HS2 in 2025.
One factor that could affect this service is the Gibb Report recommendation, that Southern’s East Croydon to Milton Keynes service be transferred to the London Overground.
I wrote about this service in Gibb Report – East Croydon – Milton Keynes Route Should Be Transferred To London Overground.
How far would a Night Orange service go?
North London Line
This would be the big one, so I’ve left it to last.
Stratford is already served by Night Tube services, so would be an obvious Eastern terminal.
It could prove a valuable link across North London, especially after big events at Stratford or the O2.
But how far will it go?
Trains could be turned back at Highbury and Islington, Camden Road, Gospel Oak, Willesden Junction, South Acton and Richmond on the North London Line. Or they could go to Clapham Junction on the West London Line.
There are a lot of possibilities.
Conclusion
The Overground could be starting a Night Orange Revolution.
Ashford Spurs On Track
The title of this post is the same as an article in the December 2017 Edition of Modern Railways.
I wrote about the Ashford Spurs in Kent On The Cusp Of Change – Ashford Spurs.
The Modern Railways article starts with this paragraph.
The launch of Eurostar e320 services from Ashford International has been pencilled in for 3 April 2018, foillowing progress with the Ashford Spurs project.
Surely, a result of their completion will be that more services will stop at Ashford International station.
This Is What I Call A MOAB
Jamestown is a small Australian town of a few over fourteen hundred souls, probably home to several million flies and some of the most venomous spiders and snakes known to man.
I have never visited the town, but I must have flown nearly over it, when I flew a Piper Arrow around Australia with C.
Just to the North of the town is the Hornsdale Wind Farm, which consists of 99 wind turbines with a generating capacity of 315 MW.
But this is not what brought the wind farm to my attention in an article in today’s Times under a headline of Biggest Ever Battery Plugs City’s Energy Gap.
This is said.
The battery array was built after a high-stakes bet by Elon Musk, 46, the US technology billionaire behind Tesla electric cars, that he could meet a 100-day building deadline or he would give the system away.
Wikipedia has a section on this battery.
This is said.
South Australia received 90 proposals and considered 5 projects. Tesla, Inc. is building the world’s most powerful lithium ion battery adjacent to the wind farm. It has two sections; a 70 MW running for 10 minutes, and a 30 MW with a 3 hour capacity. Samsung 21700-size cells are used.
It will be operated by Tesla and provide a total of 129 megawatt-hours (460 GJ) of storage capable of discharge at 100 megawatts (130,000 hp) into the power grid. This will help prevent load-shedding blackouts and provide stability to the grid (grid services) while other generators can be started in the event of sudden drops in wind or other network issues. It is intended to be built in 100 days counting from 29 September 2017, when a grid connection agreement was signed with Electranet, and some units were operational. The battery construction was completed and testing began on 25 November 2017. It is owned by Neoen and Tesla, with the government having the ability to call on the stored power under certain circumstances.
It certainly seems to be the Mother-Of-All-Batteries! Hence MOAB!
The Times is reporting that the battery system has cost £30 million.
This works out at about £233,000 to store each Megawatt-Hour stored.
When you consider that we have five offshore that are bigger than the Hornsdale Wind Farm, surely it is only a matter of time before we add a battery to one.
These MOABs are an intriguing concept!
Successful Trial Means Tube On Track For 4G Coverage By 2019
The title of this post is the same as this article on Rail Technology Magazine. This is said.
The Tube network will see 4G connectivity arrive in 2019, TfL has confirmed, meaning mayor Sadiq Khan’s original ambitions will be able to go ahead.
The news comes following a successful trial of the technology on the Waterloo & City line, where 4G technology was tested in tunnels and stations along the line in the summer.
I wonder how long it will be before all trains, trams and buses have 4G connectivity.
In some ways, I think providing 4G connectivity outside stations, bus stops and other important places is more important.
Suppose you are stuck in an area with no signal and perhaps you have fallen over and seriously cut your leg and need help or just a lift home.
Wouldn’t it be so much better, if you could find somewhere, where you know you could summon assistance or a lift?
I have two questions.
- Will 4G connectivity be added to the Overground?
- Will 4G connectivity be switch on station-by-station and line-by-line or in one go in 2019?
In some posts about this, it is suggested that a driving force behind the connectivity, is that the emeergency services are moving to mobile phone technology. So if that is the case, then the answers to these questions must be in the affirmative!
The Anonymous Widower 